Dans l'Obscurité
by EggDropSoup
Summary: Edited 3-30-13. Complete! Multi-Chaptered Fanfic. Request for general zargon. Tsuzuki and Hisoka are assigned a case months after Kyoto happened. Between the nightmares and the conflicting feelings, Hisoka is determined to keep things professional between them. He will soon learn that love can't be so easily squashed. (Illustration Art available in profile!)
1. Chapitre Un: Coucher de Soleil

***Warning: Manga/Anime Spoilers***

Disclaimer:

I don't own Yami no Matsuei

**Beta:** Eria  
><span><strong><br>****Request fic for: **general zargon

**Setting:** Takes place after Kyoto in the anime/manga and ignores GenSoKai Arc. I guess this could be seen as alternate universe or alternate story line.**  
><strong>

**Special Thanks to: **Eva, Bethany, Vi-chan and Sara (Eria)! You girls are my rock. 3 I went through some seriously messed up shit this summer and it just got worse through the fall semester. I had some health problems, my sister was in a scarily dangerous accident and she flipped her car over, and my cousin has diabetes type 1 and my grandfather is struggling with Parkinson's disease. When everything was building up all at once and was hard for me to handle, I had you wonderful ladies to count on. 3 If it wasn't for you all, I'd have gone crazy. Thank you for your positive encouragement and for believing in me when I didn't believe in myself. Good friends are so hard to find and I'm so glad that God has blessed me with each and every one of you.

**Dans l'Obscurité**  
>By EggDropSoup<p>

_Chapitre Un: __Coucher de Soleil_

It had been months after Kyoto had happened. Tsuzuki never said anything about Hisoka's practical love-confession and instead acted like the whole matter hadn't taken place at all.

Hisoka did the same, choosing not to speak about his behavior during the incident. He was too embarrassed to bring it up or explore what his actions and feelings toward Tsuzuki might have meant.

It was easy for the two partners to fall back into their routine in the small community of the Shokan Division office. Tsuzuki would pout and whine over paperwork, and Hisoka would snap at him and tell him to be quiet.

None of their coworkers asked them about it, maybe because they were worried it might dredge up horrible memories for them, but they were both put on paperwork duty for several months just in case. Konoe's orders.

* * *

><p><em>She was desperate.<em>

_For nearly a decade she had maintained her house, feeding off the lost wanderers who came upon the property. But the flimsy tourist humans were as sustaining as lead. A good soul was like a good wine, so exceptional and so very __**rare**__._

_No, she'd need something more to keep her here- a secure energy source that she could feed off forever with no fear that she'd fade away._

_It was very simple, she decided with a ghastly smile as she studied herself in the full-length glass mirror-her dark hair and eyes standing out vividly against her ivory skin._

_If the souls that came to her weren't enough, then she would just lure someone who would be._

* * *

><p>He had woken in the dark. Through the slats in the window shades the first murky hint of dawn slipped, slanting shadowy bars over the bed. Parts of the shadows fell over his face, making him feel like he was in a cell.<p>

It reminded him of the times he had looked out through the barred windows of his family's cellar to the big red moon that stretched across the dark night sky.

For a moment, Hisoka just laid there -shuttered and imprisoned- until the daze of the dream faded and his adrenaline kicked in. He jumped off the bed and sprinted to the switch near the door. It only took a quick flick, and then the room was flooded with light -briefly stinging his eyes- but he didn't shut them. The darkness was gone, but the cold chill of the nightmares still remained.

After nearly eight months of being assigned to desk work, Hisoka still had dark and sinister dreams. The temporary leave from cases was supposed to re-energize and de-stress him. But as the months of being off-duty increased, so did the nightmares.

He hadn't told anyone about them, least of all Tsuzuki. If he did, then their return to casework would be postponed even further. Besides, Hisoka had enough problems with keeping his feelings in check when it came to Tsuzuki. And the sooner they were out of their shared office and back to investigations, the sooner things between them would be back to normal.

Or so he thought.

It wasn't a shock for him to find the bureau quiet when he arrived. The other employees had been on and off cases the last few weeks, leaving him and Tsuzuki relatively alone. Nonetheless, he had never expected to see Tsuzuki there early, sitting at their shared desk and talking quietly with Tatsumi.

His partner was in the same chair as always, looking concerned and alert to what Tatsumi was telling him. Tatsumi was standing and had his back to the door, but Hisoka could see that he was holding a manila folder at his side. They didn't notice he had come in and though he couldn't hear what they were saying, he could tell by Tsuzuki's serious expression that it was something urgent.

"What's going on?" he asked, a little impatiently, pulling off his jean jacket and hanging it on one of the empty hooks by the door. As soon as they heard him, both men stopped talking and turned to look at him.

"Hisoka, you're here early." Tsuzuki smiled brightly and eagerly, quickly waving him over.

The blond gave a small shrug as he moved closer, stopping right in front of them. "The same could be said for you."

Tsuzuki's face instantly soured, obviously not happy about that, and hooked a thumb at the older man standing next to him. "Tatsumi called me to make sure I was here. Said he had some news he wanted to tell us."

The secretary gave a little smile -proud of himself- and the Hisoka knew that Tatsumi would be giving Tsuzuki spontaneous wake-up calls more often. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

"That's right. I tried calling you as well, Kurosaki-san, but your cell phone was off."

As if remembering, his hand went to his right jean pocket where he'd put it before he stepped outside his apartment. "Sorry, I forgot to turn it on this morning." He normally did before work, but his thoughts had been scattered since he had woken up.

Tatsumi nodded patiently. "Well, since now that you're both here I might as well tell you. You're being assigned to a case."

Hisoka only lifted an eyebrow, "Case?"

"There have been unexplained disappearances of souls in an old abandoned house," Tatsumi explained, placing the folder on top of Hisoka's side of the desk. Hisoka immediately sat down and opened it up, sifting through the police reports and photos of the victims, his eyes scanning over the names and identifying information of each one. Tsuzuki stood up and moved behind him, looking over his shoulder.

"Where is it?" Hisoka asked, grateful for the distraction and already scanning through the police reports as fast as he could.

"The house is in Karatsu. Before, there wasn't enough evidence to classify this case to our jurisdiction. The police reports had labeled it as a homicide. But after further investigation, we have reason to believe that there is something in that house that has caused many souls to not arrive at judgment. This case needs to be investigated by a Shinigami team right away."

"Oh! Karatsu! I love Karatsu!" Tsuzuki grinned over his shoulder, bouncing excitedly. "We might be able to catch the festival while we're there. They usually have it this time of year."

Hisoka rolled his eyes before swiveling his chair around to face him. "Tsuzuki, we're going there to work. Not to sight-see."

"But Hi-so-ka!" he sounded out, "You've never been there before. We've gotta have fun while we're there." He was insistent, leaning forward and wagging a finger in the younger's face. Hisoka tried to swat at it, but before he could it was out of reach. "Don't worry; I know where all the tourist hot spots are. We'll go to the beaches in Hematoma and then we'll see all the great restaurants and-"

"Not so fast, Tsuzuki-san," Tatsumi reminded him coolly, crossing his arms and taking a stern stance. "You still have to keep to your budget while you're there."

"Tatsumi!" Came the obligatory whine as Tsuzuki turned his attention from Hisoka to him, "You can't do that to Hisoka. Think of what he'll be missing out on."

"From what you're describing, I don't think I'll be missing out on much," Hisoka said blandly, shutting the file closed. There was no way he could concentrate on reading more when his partner was making so much noise.

Tsuzuki didn't seem to hear him as he was busy reminiscing with his face held in his hands and his eyes dreamily cast up to the ceiling, "Ah, I have such wonderful memories there. It was so much fun. When we go, we can explore the place together!"

Hisoka didn't share his enthusiasm and quickly snapped out, "Who wants to go with you?! Don't go deciding those kinds of things by yourself!"

Surprised, Tsuzuki sat down in his chair again and leaned in close enough so that he could stare down at the blond with big purple eyes. "Eh?! You mean you don't want too?"

Flustered and a little uncomfortable, Hisoka fidgeted in his seat, turning his face away from that intimidating gaze. "Of course not, stupid."

"Hisoka, we're a package deal, remember?" Tsuzuki raised his arms and flailed them wildly, but it didn't have the desired effect since the blond didn't see it.

Face turning darker, Hisoka finally worked up the courage to face him and said with forced effort, "If that's your way of describing us as work partners, then I don't want it!"

Instead of backing off or being hurt, Tsuzuki only smiled and leaned further in, enveloping Hisoka in a big hug. "Aww, 'Soka-chan, don't be shy~"

Hisoka's brain couldn't wrap around what had just happened. It had ceased functioning the moment Tsuzuki had hugged him. He could feel Tsuzuki's arms holding him close, and the warm comforting emotions that seeped into him through the contact. It was the first time since Kyoto that he had come into full bodily contact with his partner. Before, he hadn't been able to appreciate it or be aware of the emotions that had been expressed between them. And now, it was almost like he was starting to like it, could feel his head go fuzzy and Tsuzuki's face was so close that if they could just-

The moment Tatsumi cleared his throat -reminding them he was still there- the illusion vanished and Hisoka wasted no time in forcibly pushing the brunet away and standing up from his chair.

Tsuzuki couldn't react quickly enough to prevent himself from falling. He landed on the ground, the chair having turned over with him, and glanced up at his flustered partner questionably. "Hisoka?"

Willing his face to cool down, Hisoka turned away indifferently, sitting in his chair. "Stop fooling around," he said warningly, hoping he didn't seem too affected as he turned his attention back to Tatsumi.

"Was there anything else, Tatsumi-san?"

The secretary shook his head, a slight bemused expression on his face that made Hisoka hate that he couldn't tell what the older man was thinking. "All the details regarding the case are in the file." His curved mouth suddenly thinned and his voice came out more gravely, almost as if he was worrying and debating on whether or not to send the pair off or not. "Just make sure to be careful. I expect a call everyday with updates."

"Geeze, Tatsumi. You act like we're not responsible," Tsuzuki joked good-naturedly; already up from the floor and was now standing slightly behind Hisoka. Hisoka didn't have to see his face to know that Tsuzuki was smiling that crooked smile he always got when talking to his former partner. He could hear it in his partner's voice and it corresponded with the warm, fond emotions he could feel that Tsuzuki was projecting at his back.

The corners of Tatsumi's mouth tipped up at that -reaching his eyes- and momentarily banished the serious air that had settled around them. "I know that Kurosaki-kun is, but you Tsuzuki-san…well…" He trailed off, shifting his eyes away. Tsuzuki pouted and Hisoka could hear him muttering something about cold-hearted secretaries under his breath.

"I have some other matters I must attend to," Tatsumi announced when no other words had been exchanged. "Good luck on your case and take care." He glanced at them both, gave a light wave, and walked out the door.

After Tatsumi had left, Tsuzuki sat down and turned toward Hisoka in his seat and said, "This is a pretty big case. Maybe we should just turn it down and have someone else take care of it."

Hisoka's nose was pressed into the file he held in front of him "No way. This is the first assignment we've had since Kyoto. I'm not just handing it off to someone else." Not when they finally had something meaningful to do after months of desk work.

Tsuzuki's face turned grim at the mention of the place that had left them so broken and instead asked, "Are you sure?"

Finally having lost his patience, Hisoka huffed and slapped the open file down in front of him before shooting Tsuzuki a withering look. "Of course I'm sure. This case is to figure out what happened to some lost souls. How hard can it be?"

How hard_ indeed._

* * *

><p>The house was on the outskirts of town and part of an old abandoned property. It was small, and a little outdated from not having anyone live there for years. Upon further inspection, Hisoka and Tsuzuki found that the last owners had left several items of furniture behind. Some pretty old antiques too, considering the Victorian, silver framed mirror in the living room and a few vases here and there. But the rest was all so dusty and dingy that it wasn't much to be impressed with.<p>

After scouring through the house, they chose the small study down the hall to stay in and, while Hisoka stood watch, Tsuzuki worked on making enough protection spells to put around the room.

"Why would any ghost pick this dump to hang around in?" Hisoka asked, getting bored. He had been leaning against the wall for what felt like forever, and he was tired of having to shuffle his legs to prevent them from falling asleep.

"I don't think ghosts are concerned about what their homes look like so long as they're set with a place to stay and a stable energy source," Tsuzuki answered, as he tapped the end of his calligraphy pen to his chin thoughtfully. "Vengeful spirits can possess people and feed off souls for energy. This one probably has a whole smorgasbord of souls stored inside an anchor somewhere."

That was something the blond hadn't expected to hear. "Anchor?"

"Yes, ghosts need something to tie themselves to in order to stay here on Earth. Without some kind of connection, they either become devoured by demons or they eventually fade away."

Hisoka frowned, his expression souring. "That could be anything in this house."

"Well, that's the tricky part," Tsuzuki said, bobbing his head in agreement. "We just have to be careful. Vengeful spirits are unpredictable, so make sure to stay alert."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it." The empath rolled his eyes and tilted his head back against the wall he was leaning on and looked up at the ceiling.

The ceiling was white, normal. Everything about this house seemed normal, looked normal. The only indication that anything was remotely strange was the low humming of spiritual energy he felt when he had first set foot inside the house. No regular person would have guessed that so many people had died in this house by just looking at it. Even he didn't believe it at first. There was no emotional residue left on anything he touched. Almost like the whole house had been swept clean.

"Are you almost done securing the room?"

"Yeah," Tsuzuki answered as he painted the last paper, and Hisoka mildly wondered how his calligraphy was always so nicely printed on the charms but when it came to his paperwork, the brunet's handwriting was messy and far from aesthetically pleasing.

"I wanted to finish this before it got too dark since there's no electricity in the house," his partner told him as he got up from kneeling on the floor. He placed the last paper charm up with the others on the wall, making sure they were all aligned symmetrically. "Figures that Tatsumi wouldn't pay for us to stay in a hotel. He's too stingy."

Hisoka pushed away from the wall and shrugged. "Maybe he thought we'd have a better chance at solving the case if we're in the house."

"Maybe," the brunet conceded, as he surveyed the room. Once he was pleased with his work, he turned to Hisoka. "I'm going to bring in the rest of our stuff. Go ahead and start setting up. It'll be dark soon."

"Okay." Hisoka gave a small nod and was already walking across the room to where his duffle bag lay behind the low coffee table. Once he reached it, he wasted no time in unzipping it and began to rummage through it, looking for the flashlights and candles he had packed along with his clothes.

Tsuzuki moved away from the wall and stepped towards the door, but before he left the room he tossed over his shoulder, "Oh and Hisoka?"

The blond glanced up from this duffle bag, "What?"

"Since we're out of power it may get cold here at night."

"And?" Tsuzuki took a long look at him. Oh how he loved it when those golden brows buckled together, forming one concentrated line over narrowed green eyes.

"Well, just let me know if you need help conserving body heat." He paused, his lips shifting up into a grin and winked. "My bed's open all night."

Hisoka's face, predictably, flamed and he had to dart out of the door quickly to miss the sweater aimed at his face.

Once outside the room, Tsuzuki continued down the hall grinning like a loon and thinking just how gorgeous his partner looked, even when angry.

* * *

><p>After their belongings had been brought in, Tsuzuki and Hisoka immediately set to work. They spread out all the contents of the file across the coffee table. Each reading and analyzing the documents as much as they could. They had arrived at the house some time in the evening and with setting up the room and unpacking, they weren't able to get through much of it before the sky became dark. The flashlights, candles, and hurricane lamps they had packed helped a little, but Hisoka had to admit that they couldn't compare to good old fashioned overhead light electricity.<p>

Tired down through the marrow, Hisoka yawned until his jaw cracked. Tsuzuki was already asleep, snuggled up in his dark blue sleeping bag on the other side of the small coffee table -his back facing the blond- having given in to tiredness hours before.

Hisoka knew it was somewhere in the vicinity of four in the morning, and he'd only gotten up from his seat in front of the coffee table twice to go to the bathroom. His desire to at least finish reading a few more pages of the case file overrode his need for rest.

The yellow mug in front of him was empty. He had tried getting up at around two to put on a fresh pot of tea, but his legs had fallen asleep from where he sat cross-legged on the floor and from that point, the rest of his body had followed by example, becoming sluggish. His arms felt like jelly and his spine ached painfully from being hunched over the table throughout the night.

Even his eyes had trouble focusing and keeping track of the words he was reading. They all seemed to blur together on the page and the more he looked at them, the more the place between his eyebrows throbbed.

He let out a tired breath and sat back, turning his gaze away from the paperwork before him and directing it onto his sleeping partner's profile. Hisoka couldn't see much of Tsuzuki's face, but he could make out the curve of his cheek, the slight angle of his nose, and the only visible closed eye whose lashes were fluttering from dreams.

Tsuzuki's body seemed relaxed; he wasn't tossing and turning or speaking out so Hisoka assumed they were good ones. Good ones meant that Tsuzuki would get a good night of sleep and they also meant that he wasn't dreaming of the _incident_.

If Hisoka had a choice, he would wish that Tsuzuki didn't remember the embarrassing proclamations he had made in Kyoto. Of course, he meant them…but when he said them he wasn't thinking rationally. When he and Tsuzuki were in the depths of Touda's fires, he hadn't even thought of the possibility that they'd make it out alive. The chance of death made it easier to say the things he had kept inside himself for so long. He knew he would have regretted it if he hadn't, but he still had yet to hear Tsuzuki's answer.

And now he was stuck in this situation -in a weird sort of partnership with this man around which he now no longer knew how to act. From that point on, anything exchanged between them -be it words or actions- were now assumed to have a hidden meaning to it. He felt like if he miss-stepped or was too nice or too mean to Tsuzuki, then that fine line that held their friendship in place would be torn.

He wasn't ready for things to change between them and nor was he ready to think too deeply to what his proclamation to Tsuzuki in Kyoto meant. So when Hisoka's injuries had healed and he returned back to work at the Shokan Division, he acted like nothing had happened. Tsuzuki, while confused with Hisoka's sudden change in behavior, had also fallen back into the routine of their daily office banter.

Hisoka knew that his partner wasn't really as stupid as he pretended to be. And he knew that it was selfish to give someone mixed signals and act on one thing and say another, but he was scared. Scared to open his heart up to Tsuzuki anymore than he already had and too scared that if he were to learn how the other truly felt, he'd be left broken hearted. Tsuzuki could so easily make or break him with a simple 'yes' or 'no'.

So that's where they stood with each other. They both pretended that they didn't care about what had happened, but they still cared enough to fill their days with each other awkwardly, dancing around each other in order to maintain their partnership.

Things between them were so complicated that Hisoka didn't even know how to fix it, even if he tried.

It was even worse to be on a case, alone, and without any office-mates to distract themselves with. Even now, the blond found it hard to not watch Tsuzuki's covered side rise and fall with each breath. Or the way he would lightly snore. Not so loud that it was obnoxious, but just enough so that Hisoka was conscious of it when he listened in the silence of the early morning.

He yawned again, his head lulling and his eyes falling nearly closed.

Secretly, the blond found a lot of enjoyment watching his partner. And it wasn't hard to understand; after all he wasn't the only one who'd ever looked the veteran shinigami over with hungry eyes.

Not that Tsuzuki ever noticed when someone was checking him out, he was always too busy talking or eating to pay attention.

Though, who could blame them? What person wouldn't fantasize now and again about the tall, dark, and ridiculously handsome type? Especially when he came with a killer grin, heart-melting eyes, and a rather nicely built frame?

Hisoka could admit to himself that he was attracted to his partner, but he also appreciated Tsuzuki's presence in his life too much to indulge himself enough to take a hungry bite out of him.

But imagining doing it didn't hurt a thing.

He contented himself as his eyes finally fell closed, with the scattered fantasies of Tsuzuki flashing in his mind. Sweet dreams filled with the brunet and the little things that Hisoka had learned about him from all their years working together. Like the way Tsuzuki's mouth moved when he spoke or the way those big hands of his could so easily hold Hisoka close.

The empath let a small smile slip as his body finally succumbed to exhaustion and he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p><em>It was the singing that stirred him- the voice so soft that he almost didn't notice it as he lifted his head from his folded arms. The muscles in his neck and back protested at the odd angle they had been left in, causing him to wince as he blinked his eyes to focus.<em>

_It was then that he saw her- the figure in the white dress that stood in the doorway, softly singing a lullaby he didn't know. Her dark eyes met his, but she just smiled and continued singing as the room turned cold._

* * *

><p>Hisoka's skin was slicked with sweat when he woke and the unexpected constraint of the sleeping bag around him caused him to panic. His still prickly fingers found the zipper -pulled it down- and he shot out of bed so fast that the room seemed to spin.<p>

When it settled -and he felt that he could move again- he rubbed his arms. His body still felt like a thousand needles had been jammed into his skin and he tried to calm himself down as he took in the mid-afternoon light streaming in through the window. His partner's sleeping bag was rolled up in the corner, indicating that Tsuzuki was already awake and had been the one to move him.

He didn't know if he should be annoyed or grateful for his partner 'putting him to bed', but with the nightmare still weighing heavily on his mind he just wanted to be somewhere where he wasn't alone.

Sighing heavily, he quickly changed out of the clothes he wore the day before and went to find Tsuzuki.

* * *

><p>Hisoka searched the rooms of the house until he stumbled upon Tsuzuki in the kitchen. As he stepped into the modest sized space, he looked around in surprise. The kitchen was not in the state it had been last night. The dust that had covered every inch of the room was now gone, making the plaster walls and scarred wooden floors appear brighter, cleaner.<p>

The older man was standing by the gas stove, with the sleeves of his white shirt pushed up above the elbows and was busy stirring something. The window by the sink was open, allowing the bright sunlight to spill into the room. "What in the world are you doing?"

Tsuzuki didn't stop stirring or look at him as he answered, "Cooking."

"I can see that. But, _why_?"

"I was hungry and there was nothing in the cabinets. Well, nothing unexpired anyway. There aren't any restaurants nearby so I went to the nearest convenience store and picked up some instant ramen."

Hisoka scrunched up his nose. It wasn't his ideal choice for breakfast but at least it was something simple. Tsuzuki could at least manage to cook ramen without ruining it…right?

He stepped closer, intending to examine the state of the boiling noodles. They didn't smell weird, but he wanted to be sure. "You didn't put any seasoning in it did you?"

That had Tsuzuki chuckling.

"No," the brunet assured him, "I'm just boiling the noodles. You can put in the seasoning on your own."

Because Tsuzuki was so much taller than him, Hisoka had to crane his neck in order to catch a glimpse of the white noodles cooking in a silver pot. They looked normal enough. "Did you clean the kitchen last night?"

"I cleaned it this morning."

"Why didn't you wake me? I could have helped."

Tsuzuki turned around, met his eyes, and smiled. "You were sleeping so soundly that I didn't want to wake you."

The empath shrugged, looked away. "Real good it did me. Half of the day is gone."

"Relax, Hisoka. It's not the end of the world." Tsuzuki's smile grew wider. "Think of it this way, you've got your rest and as soon as you're done eating you can get back to work."

Hisoka struggled to ignore the flutter of unsettling feelings deep inside. He blamed it on the gastric juices in his stomach and the fact that he hadn't eaten anything substantial since yesterday. "I doubt I can get much work done with what's left of the day."

"I'm sure you can. But don't make it a habit to stay up as late as you did last night, Mr. Night Owl." Tsuzuki winked at him but glanced back at the stove when the water in the pot sizzled, rising up to the edge. "Ah, it's ready."

He quickly turned off the burner, cutting off the gas. After slipping on a pair of worn, red oven mitts, he picked up the pot by its handles and moved it to the round wooden pot holder beside the stove. Satisfied, he slipped the mitts off and faced Hisoka. "Let's eat and then we'll do a check through of the house. See if anything sticks out."

Hisoka nodded, watching as Tsuzuki grabbed two bowls that were sitting on the other side of the counter and used an old wooden ladle to dish out the soup. He supposed his partner was right, there was nothing wrong with taking a breather and he couldn't very well concentrate on work if his stomach was grumbling like it was now. He also didn't want to do anything that would make Tsuzuki overly worried about him.

When Tsuzuki held a full bowl out to him, he took it without comment, and sat down in front of one of the make-shift placemats set out on part of the counter. Tsuzuki took the pace beside him, bringing over his own bowl and the little packets of seasoning for their soup.

Hisoka took one of the packets and peeled it open, dashing a small amount of the seasoning into his soup. Tsuzuki practically dumped all the contents of his packet into his own bowl and Hisoka winced instinctively. For all the years they'd worked together, he still didn't understand why his partner put so much flavoring into his food.

As he ate, Tsuzuki told him about his trip to the store. Hisoka tried his best to pay attention, but he became distracted and ended up only half-listening to most of it. His thoughts unconsciously went back to his dreams, and he wondered just what they meant and why the only thing he could remember from them was that he kept seeing the image of dark and cynical eyes in his head.

* * *

><p>The check through the house after lunch hadn't brought about any leads, much to Hisoka's disappointment. Nothing stood out to the two partners. Whoever this ghost was, they were good at masking their presence and power. So the boys were back to the drawing board, examining the police reports and files they had gotten in Meifu for any possible leads or ideas.<p>

They continued to work hard into the evening, only stopping for restroom and food breaks. (Though Tsuzuki abused his number of breaks.)

The silence between them was very tense -despite Tsuzuki's light attempts at humor and was only broken by the loud, obnoxious ring tone coming from Tsuzuki's cell phone.

The brunet blinked distractedly before he picked up the phone from the table and looked at the screen -his eyes widening in surprise when he saw who was calling.

"Oh. Sorry, gotta take this real quick," Tsuzuki said, as he pushed himself up from his spot on the floor, pressed the answer button on the screen, and walked out of the room into the hall. "Hi, Tatsumi. What's up?"

Curious, despite himself, Hisoka stopped focusing on the file in front of him and leaned his head toward the open door of the room.

He heard Tsuzuki's voice from out in the hall, speaking quickly to Tatsumi about how there hadn't been any progress on their case. And while the blond listened, he felt a little envious at how freely and openly Tsuzuki seemed to speak to his ex-partner.

Those two had known each other longer than Hisoka had even been alive. He couldn't compete with that. There was no way in comparing the two partnerships. Tatsumi's influence in Tsuzuki's life would always win by default, which made Hisoka feel all the more insecure and unsure on how to handle certain situations with his partner.

Even worse, there were times that the blond thought Tsuzuki was still in love with Tatsumi -leaving him with more than just his insecurity over their partnership to be preoccupied about.

The empath huffed as he crossed his arms moodily and slouched on the cushion under his crossed legs. What was so great about that old money-pincher? The man had left like the rest of Tsuzuki's partners. He didn't understand how Tsuzuki could so easily accept and still care for someone who had betrayed him so badly.

If anyone deserved Tsuzuki's attention it was _him_. After all, Hisoka was the only one who had stayed. And he could do it, make Tsuzuki happy. Make Tsuzuki forget about everyone else and focus only on him. It would be so easy that all he had to do was just-

Hisoka stopped that thought before he could be finish it, now conscious that the room was marginally colder than it was before -causing the exposed skin of his neck and forearms to pebble with goose bumps. Distractedly, he rubbed at his frigid arms -his short nails grazing skin- trying to calm himself down. What had gotten into him just now? He didn't want to monopolize Tsuzuki and keep him only to himself. He just wanted his partner to be happy.

He was so distracted in his thoughts that he barely heard Tsuzuki saying "Good bye" to Tatsumi outside. Coming to himself, he quickly grabbed his pen and started scribbling notes from the police reports into his blank notepad -pretending to not have noticed or been concerned with Tsuzuki's phone call.

"Sorry, about that," Tsuzuki said, walking in with a slow stride -not seeming to notice that Hisoka had been eavesdropping. "Tatsumi called to see how we were doing."

The blond looked up to give him an acknowledging glance, but what his eyes saw made his gaze linger a little longer than he had intended. He hadn't noticed earlier, but Tsuzuki's white button up shirt was un-tucked and hanging down a little past his hips. The first two top buttons were left undone, exposing a little of the older man's chest.

Hisoka gulped, felt his face flush instinctively and quickly cast his eyes back down to the open folder before him -reluctantly choosing to stare at the glossy crime scene photos instead. "Oh?" he asked.

Instead of continuing on, Tsuzuki seemed to notice something that hadn't been there when he'd left as he sat back down on the floor. "Hey, what happened?"

There was a light tap against his arm and Hisoka looked up to see what Tsuzuki was talking about. When he looked closer, he saw a small gash on his forearm. He must have accidently scratched himself by rubbing his arms. The skin wasn't terribly torn, just a small cut that would quickly heal on its own.

"Oh, I didn't even notice."

"How could you not notice that?" Tsuzuki asked skeptically, and a little doubtful, as his hand went to his pocket, and pulled out a small, pink band aid with a white kitty cat face.

He held it out to Hisoka. "Use this."

The blond's eyes went wide and he tilted his head. "What the hell is that?"

Tsuzuki shrugged a shoulder. "It's a band-aid."

Hisoka frowned, scrunched up his nose and leaned his upper body away from the table. "Band- aids aren't supposed to be _pink_."

The brunet let out a frustrated breath, his eyes rolling up to the ceiling. "Would you just take it already?"

"What for? The cut's almost healed." In fact it almost was. The skin was repairing itself as they spoke.

"Come on, take it. Just until it heals so none of the dust around this old house gets in it."

"Why do you even have band aids?" Hisoka prodded for an explanation, half curious as he was biding for time, not wanting to give in just yet.

"Well, just in case someone needs one. Besides, they're cute!" Without waiting for Hisoka to argue further, Tsuzuki leaned over the table and pressed it to the blond's arm, covering the almost fully healed cut. "There you go- a cute band aid for a cute kid."

Hisoka snorted irritably, but didn't make a move to take the band aid off. Its florescent pink color contrasted strongly with his pale skin. "I'm not a kid."

Tsuzuki suddenly got a look on his face, a kind of half-smile that the empath couldn't make sense out of. "You're right. You've grown up a lot since we first became partners."

'_What did he mean by that?'_ Hisoka wondered. He was about to ask, but before he could open his mouth the other man was already getting to his feet.

"Ah, sorry, I got distracted," Tsuzuki quickly said as he stood, and it only confirmed Hisoka's suspicions that the other man was trying to evade being asked about what just happened. "I'll go ahead and clean up some in the kitchen. Just yell if you need something." His eyes darkened as he rose to his full height, reaching over to quickly ruffle his younger partner's hair before the blond could protest.

Hisoka was caught off guard from the warm feelings that were transferred through that touch, leaving him breathless and stunned as Tsuzuki gave him a wink and walked out the door again.

But even as Hisoka sat there, wondering just what the hell happened, there was a small light glowing in his heart.

If he wasn't sure before, he was now.

He was in love with Tsuzuki.

**A suivre.**

**AN:**  
><em>Dans l'Obscurité <em>is French for In Darkness/Into the Dark.  
><em>Chapitre Un: <em>_Coucher de Soleil _is French for Chapter One: Sunset._  
>A suivre <em>is French for To be continued/To Follow.

Special thanks to Retired Kitkat for help with these translations. :)


	2. Chapitre Deux: Crépuscule

***Warning: Manga/Anime Spoilers***

Disclaimer:

I don't own Yami no Matsuei

**Beta:** Eria  
><span><strong><br>****Request fic for: **general zargon

**Setting:** Takes place after Kyoto in the anime/manga and ignores GenSoKai Arc. I guess this could be seen as alternate universe or alternate story line.**  
><strong>

**Special Thanks to: **Eva, Bethany, Vi-chan and Sara (Eria)! You girls are my rock. 3 I went through some seriously messed up shit this summer and it just got worse through the fall semester. I had some health problems, my sister was in a scarily dangerous accident and she flipped her car over, and my cousin has diabetes type 1 and my grandfather is struggling with Parkinson's disease. When everything was building up all at once and was hard for me to handle, I had you wonderful ladies to count on. 3 If it wasn't for you all, I'd have gone crazy. Thank you for your positive encouragement and for believing in me when I didn't believe in myself. Good friends are so hard to find and I'm so glad that God has blessed me with each and every one of you.

**Dans l'Obscurité**  
>By EggDropSoup<p>

_Chapitre Deux__: __Crépuscule_

"Absolutely not."

"Come on, Hisoka. Please? We've been working _so_ hard."

"We have," he allowed, huffing out a breath, "but not hard enough, otherwise we'd be done with this case by now."

"All the more reason to go out and have some fun! The case will still be here when we get back," Tsuzuki argued, as he leaned over the coffee table and gave him what seemed like a hopeful smile. However, it only served to make Hisoka anxious. That smile looked too sweet, too _wicked_.

He swallowed uncomfortably as he shifted his gaze away from Tsuzuki's face to somewhere behind the older man's shoulder. Somehow, not looking directly at him helped the blond keep his focus and his voice stern. "I told you before. We're not here on vacation, Tsuzuki. No means _no._"

"I know we're not, but we've been in this house for days and there haven't been any new developments. The only time we ever leave is to go to the store. Seriously, we deserve a break."

"If you don't think you can handle it, I can call Tatsumi-san and-"

"You know that's not the reason, Hisoka," Tsuzuki interrupted coolly, his warning tone quickly drawing the blond's attention back to look directly at him. He picked up one of the police reports in front of him, flipped through the pages of it without looking at it. "We've done all that we can do at this point. I've read through these papers so many times that I could recite them in my sleep. All we're doing is playing this ghost's waiting game. I'm not doing it anymore, I'm calling a time-out."

Hisoka's eyes lit stubbornly and he snapped his head away again. "If you need your break so badly, then just go. No one's stopping you."

"No," Tsuzuki agreed, voice soft and contemplative, "but I wouldn't be able to go without you."

That admission surprised him and he started. "What?"

"I said I wouldn't be able to-"

"I know what you said," the empath interjected impatiently, shaking his head. "What I meant was _why_?"

Tsuzuki paused, his eyes gentling as he boosted up a smile. "I just want to be with you."

He was aware of the way his heart thrilled at those words and he knew it was over. Really, it was over even before it _began_. His rational mind tried to tell him that the statement was too vague- that Tsuzuki could have meant it a number of different ways- but the response was already spilling out of his mouth on it's own, quick and desperate like a summer rain, "Fine, we'll go."

Tsuzuki perked up. "Really? You mean it?"

It was a lost cause, he decided when he saw those big purple eyes trained on his face -watching and waiting- and he prided himself that he was at least able to hold his ground for a few seconds before sighing in final resignation.

He gave a single nod and it was enough to prompt Tsuzuki to launch himself across the table and hug him, his face beaming and his emotions running high. A few of the papers around them fell off the table, but Hisoka didn't have time to notice. Warm arms and strong joy filled his consciousness, blocking everything else out.

Tsuzuki eventually let him go and the world started up again. "Thank you, Hisoka. I promise you won't regret it."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Tsuzuki," Hisoka warned, more out of habit as a last attempt at being cynical, but when faced with Tsuzuki's beaming, contagious smile he couldn't help but feel his own mouth turn upward.

He really hoped he didn't regret it.

* * *

><p>It was the last day of the Karatsu Kunichi festival and the two partners stood in the crowd watching the procession of the fourteen traditional massive festival floats.<p>

"I'm so glad we didn't miss the parade, it's the highlight of the festival," Tsuzuki said, having to shout for Hisoka to hear him over the chants of the crowd.

It was easy to be affected by the crowd's excitement as the calls of "En-ya!" and "Yoi-sa!" echoed throughout the square. Tourists and city-folk alike had drawn together from all over the surrounding area for the three-day holiday, watching excitedly as floats in the shape of samurai helmets, sea bream, and dragons passed by -carried through the streets of the city by teams of bearers selected from families who lived in the fourteen traditional neighborhoods of Karatsu.

Even though the floats were built from constructed wood, lacquer and other materials, they were massive -standing between five and six meters and weighing anywhere from two to five tons.

Amidst the impassioned chants from the crowd, music from the taiko drummers, and the flutists perched on the floats' bases played. The melody of their instruments set the tempo for the chant, helping the spectators keep their voices in time with the beat. It was the first time Hisoka had seen anything like this on a case and the first time he had remembered being subjected to such a large amount of people, especially when there were so many bodies pressed up against each other. It was all so overwhelming.

The thoughts and feelings of those people around him seeped into his brain, invading him like a plague of insects. His head was pounding from the overload and he searched around frantically, looking for anything to focus on so he wouldn't pass out from the force of it all.

His hand found Tsuzuki's before he realized it and when his brain finally alerted him to what he'd just done, it was already too late. He partner was looking at him closely and questionably.

"It's not what you think," Hisoka stammered as the growing blush spread across his face, the contact of their joined hands allowing him to read the other man's mind and feelings. There was surprise there, and hope. "It's just the crowd," he continued with his eyes cast away, intending to make his intentions clear. "They were getting to me."

Tsuzuki's face held no disappointment or any indication that he was upset at the blond's statement as he gave a small, gentle smile and said, "That's fine."

Hisoka looked at him, first with shock and then indignation before he demanded angrily, "You do realize what I'm doing, right? I'm using you!" He tugged at the brunet's hand sharply for emphasis. "Don't just easily accept it. Get angry, do-do something!"

Tsuzuki knew that the blond hated crowds and, because his empathy was so receptive, he would try to limit as many thoughts and feelings that flooded into his mind as possible. That meant seeking out a momentary focus to distract him from all the other people around them. It was simple as that, a means to an end.

At hearing this sudden confession the older man merely shrugged, looking unsurprised and unperturbed, as he turned his head slowly back to watch the last of the floats pass by. "That's alright. If it's you, then I don't mind being used at all."

"You…" Hisoka was trembling in shock, his mouth struggling to find words and his fingers unconsciously tightened around Tsuzuki's hand. There was no halfhearted acquiescence in those words. His partner really did mean it. He wouldn't mind if Hisoka used him all up and left him for dead.

The blond didn't know why that bothered him so much. He wanted Tsuzuki to be angry, to tell him to not be so selfish, but instead the guy was accepting it.

Hisoka turned his face down, focused on the scuff marks on his white sneakers as he finally decided on, "You're an idiot." He didn't yell this time but Tsuzuki seemed to have heard him over the crowd anyway.

The brunet's answer was softly spoken as he shifted Hisoka's hand in his own, entwining their fingers purposefully together, "So I've been told."

Silence fell between them as the last float passed by and it wasn't until they left the parade route that they let each other's hands go.

* * *

><p>The bright, candy blue skies of the day had faded into a dark, humid autumn night. Hisoka could barely make out the stars through the purple and gray clouds, but he could see the white steam rising from the stationary and portable food stands scattered around the sides of street. The venders offered everything from rice noodles to takoyaki for tourists who would continue to celebrate late into the night.<p>

Music could still be heard from the main square and some of the townspeople around them danced and sang along to the folk music excitedly.

As they were walking, they passed a small group of children who talked animatedly with each other about the giant floats they had seen in the parade. Hisoka vaguely paid attention as he kept in step with Tsuzuki and could hear the beginning of thunder rolling overhead, threatening a downpour at any moment.

"Tonight was so much fun!" Tsuzuki exclaimed from his right, a bright smile on his face as he looked over his spoils. He had bought a number of snacks and some souvenirs for their coworkers, stuffing them away easily in the deep pockets of his trench coat.

If Tsuzuki had had his way they would have gone to every single street stall and vender in town. Luckily, Hisoka was able to keep a strict hold of their funds and remind the brunet that they needed to get back to the house before they got rained on.

"You look happy," the empath observed, slanting him a look as they sauntered on. One of the streetlights they passed under shined down on his hair, illuminating the golden strands momentarily.

Tsuzuki grinned at him and encircled an arm around blond's shoulder. "Of course, I have a handsome date."

Hisoka flushed and looked away. "Idiot," he mumbled, his breathing becoming uneven as his heartbeat fluttered, "Who would date _you_?"

"Aw, you mean you wouldn't?" Tsuzuki ducked his head to look at his partner's face curiously. The joking in his voice was gone.

The blond huffed, his voice coming out more forceful than he intended, "No." _Yes._

"Ouch," Tsuzuki grimaced and let his arm fall back to his side as if burned, "_Rejected..."_

Hisoka secretly wished he hadn't. Though the night wasn't very cool, it still felt nice to have Tsuzuki's warm arm around him and pressed at his back. But he wouldn't admit that. He'd have to resign himself to being silently disappointed.

The streets were empty and quiet around them now. Completely void of life except for the occasional street light and dark house they passed. Tsuzuki could barely make out the outline of the trees a few feet away as the thunder roared above them again. Lightning flashed nearby and it seemed like the air was becoming thicker, denser.

The tension between them was just as thick and while the blond resolutely kept his gaze forward, Tsuzuki kept sending fleeting looks at him out of the corner of his eye. He was wracking his brain, trying to think of something to say to fill the silence as they passed under another street light. When the light of the streetlamp bore down on them again, there was a gleam of something that caught his attention -something small, shiny, and _pink_ on Hisoka's arm.

"What's that?"

"Huh?"

"On your arm." The brunet poked a finger to the partially exposed skin just below the rolled up edges of Hisoka's jean jacket. "You're still wearing the band aid?"

The blond blinked at it before his whole face turned scarlet, and he was sure Tsuzuki could see it even in the dark. "I forgot about it with everything that's going on."

"Uh, huh," Tsuzuki's gaze sharpened. "Either you _really_ like Hello Kitty or you're not being honest with me."

Hisoka's delicate jaw locked and he went very still, wary. "What are you talking about?"

The brunet gave him a slow, assessing look and instead of answering asked, "Hisoka, just how do you feel about me?"

The nervous terror in him was rising quickly and the blond jolted, stepping back. "This isn't the time to talk about this."

"There's never a right time to talk about it, Hisoka. It seems like every chance it comes close to being brought up, you find a way to evade it completely. Stop running away from me."

The older man stepped closer until he was in front of him again and Hisoka struggled to stay where he was, to fight the panic that was telling him to move. "I'm not."

"Really now?" Tsuzuki alleged -his voice cool and deliberate. He leaned forward and reached out to curve his hand over the blond's cheek.

Hisoka had always been so good at staying in control, at distracting himself from the feelings and attraction he had for his partner. However, it was all in vain. Each time, he could feel himself slipping a little farther, a little deeper.

"I'm not ready for this," Hisoka heard himself blurt out.

"Neither am I." Still, Tsuzuki drew him closer, framing his partner's face with both his hands and stopping with their mouths a breath apart. "But here we are."

Hisoka looked into Tsuzuki's eyes transfixed, shaken, yearning and just a little scared of what was happening inside of him. It was insane, he thought, absolutely insane what they were doing. Except he couldn't stop, couldn't pull away -not when he was so close to having Tsuzuki's moving lips against his own.

Their eyes were still locked and Hisoka could feel the heat through both Tsuzuki's gaze and the feelings that seeped into his skin. Love, happiness, and desire were just a kiss away.

He didn't know who had moved; just that something soft had pressed against his lips and then suddenly, a flash of lightning lit up the sky -illuminating the street and everything around them. The rain followed quickly, pounding hard onto their faces and shoulders.

Instinctively, they both pulled away at the cold shock. The blond knew his face was burning, even as the rain seeped into his hair and clothes, pouring over his eyes. He tried to blink his eyes open against the downpour and could barely make out Tsuzuki's silhouette before him, even when his partner was just a step away. Hisoka was at a loss of what to say as panic punched through any lingering warmth of their embrace.

He squeezed his eyes shut, struggling to find his control -his sense- and he pressed an unsteady hand to his jittery stomach. His heart was still jumping, but he inhaled slowly, exhaled deliberately. He had to get away, he had to go.

Without a word, he concentrated on teleporting back to the house, knowing that his partner would follow soon after. He heard Tsuzuki call his name and the blond tried to squash the guilt that plagued him as he trans-located. He bit back a sob and focused on how to breathe again.

Tsuzuki was right.

All he did was run away.

* * *

><p>Hot lightning sizzled the sky in broody bursts as Hisoka hurried all the way into the dark house. Once he set foot inside, the blond chucked off his sneakers and grabbed one of the flashlights by the door. Retreating to the study, he quickly unzipped his duffel and rifled through it for a change of clothes.<p>

Hisoka found his night clothes easily and wasted no time in peeling off his soaked jeans and shirt. He pulled on his shorts and just barely slid his tank top on when he heard the sound of the front door swinging open. Curiously, he tilted his head, then startled when he heard the wet squish of Tsuzuki's leather shoes against the hardwood floor.

The blond held his breath anxiously as the wet sounds grew louder, but Tsuzuki never reached the room. He listened carefully, and, when he heard the closing of another door, he decided that the brunet must have chosen to use the small bathroom in the hallway to dry off instead.

Hisoka guiltily placed his clothes in the wicker basket in the far corner of the room. It probably wasn't the best place to put wet clothes, but he'd deal with them later in the morning. He was too preoccupied about what to do with Tsuzuki right now and he knew it wouldn't be long before his partner would come in.

He sighed tiredly as he laid out his sleeping bag, quickly unrolling it and spreading it out over the wooden floor.

They had been way too close and while his heart ached, another part of him was cautious. He felt like he was tiptoeing on eggshells. Only that the eggshells were as sharp as broken glass. He didn't feel in control of himself anymore. The last few days he had been acting on impulse, losing himself in his feelings, and that scared him. He knew he was giving Tsuzuki mixed signals and he had to put an end to it. The sooner he did that, the sooner they'd finish their case and go back to Meifu.

So there he was, smoothing out the wrinkles of the bag's insulation slowly with his hands. He turned his face determinedly away from the doorway as he prepared to act like their kiss encounter had never taken place. And that included not caring or noticing that Tsuzuki was now in the room, staring at him with a heavy heart.

Tsuzuki hadn't taken long in the bathroom, coming back into the study wearing a dry white button down and a baggy pair of dark pants with his flashlight held loosely in his hand. His hair was a little damp, but it wasn't plastered to his forehead as it was before.

When he entered the study, he could make out Hisoka's small hunched-over form by the flashlight the teen had beside him. He studied the blond in front of him with a pensive expression, unsure of what to say. Judging by how Hisoka was still turned away and fixated on keeping his sleeping area neat, Tsuzuki knew that his partner was avoiding him. Hell, Hisoka wouldn't even turn his head to look at him!

After another few minutes spent on pondering, he became more frustrated and eventually sighed and turned away. He walked to the other side of the coffee table and flicked off his flashlight as he flung out his sleeping bag haphazardly, not caring if it was laid out straight or not so long as there was enough room on the floor for his body to stretch out.

He unzipped it quickly and easily shimmed down inside but instead of lying on his back, he turned on his side, propped his head on his elbow and looked at his partner. Hisoka had stopped petting his sleeping bag but instead of getting in it, he was now fussing over his pillow, stalling.

Knowing that Hisoka wouldn't initiate any conversation, Tsuzuki chose something predictable to say, that way at least he could get something, some word out of his partner. But the words that were meant to come out teasingly came out imploring instead, "Ne, Hisoka, I'm cooooold. Can I sleep with you?"

"Sneak onto my side and I'll hit you," the blond replied automatically, his words carrying a little bite with them as he fluffed up his pillow and weapon of choice. He had purposefully not removed the coffee table from between them, using it as a make-shift barrier.

Tsuzuki's full bottom lip pouted out of habit but he didn't comment further as Hisoka zipped up his sleeping bag all the way, turning on his side to face the wall. And then the blond, just as wordless, turned off his flashlight and closed his eyes.

They both laid there in the dark, listening to the pounding rain on the tile roof above. And both men noticed in their silence, that the rain's fast pitter patter kept in time with the unsteady drumming of their hearts.

* * *

><p><em>Hisoka was standing in front of the old, silver mirror in the living room. The blond didn't know how he got there or when, but he looked curiously at his reflection, studying himself –as much as he could with the moonlight- and his un-aging sixteen year old body. <em>

_It was weird in a way. Weird that he was looking at himself in the mirror when there wasn't anything he should have thought unusual about his appearance. Hisoka remembered dressing himself in his dark shorts and tank top for bed and he remembered that his body was just as lean as it always had been._

_Suddenly, his reflection faded away and was replaced by the figure of a woman with a long white dress and dark, tangled hair. Her eyes were wild as she smiled at him, ashen lips stretching out and revealing chalky white teeth._

_He didn't have time to react before a hand jutted out from the surface of the glass, grabbing his chin roughly. The blond tried to pull away but her cold pale hand tightened, gripping more firmly onto his jaw and holding him in place. Her dark, mad eyes burned into his and the skin where she touched him prickled as if it had been touched by a block of ice._

_And then a voice was speaking, but instead of hearing it with his ears, he heard it inside his head, "My name is Naomi. Let's have some fun, shall we?"_

* * *

><p>Tsuzuki had been fast asleep and dreaming, his eyelids flickering as he lay still in the quiet night. The house was silent and calm but the longer the silence stretched, the more Tsuzuki gradually became aware of someone stroking his hair. He blinked a few times sleepily, saw the hand pull his long bangs out of his eyes, and tucked it behind his ear.<p>

Alarmed, he sat up with a jerk and found himself looking into Hisoka's face. The blond was sitting crouched, close beside him and it was then that Tsuzuki noticed his sleeping bag had been unzipped and opened- spread out flat all around him.

"Hisoka?" he questioned tiredly, wondering why his partner was awake and why the blond was suddenly right beside him.

Hisoka smiled faintly, as he reached a hand out to smooth against his cheek and Tsuzuki shivered at both the sensation and how beautiful his partner looked even in the dark. The rain had stopped and the moonlight that shined in through the window illuminating his blond hair and making his eyes shine so brightly that they seemed to glow.

But something was wrong. Hisoka never initiated contact like this before and Tsuzuki was at a loss at how to respond as soft fingers sifted carefully into his hair and a warm set of lips pressed to the side of his face.

"Tsuzuki," Hisoka whispered huskily before he crawled fully and forcefully into the older man's lap, straddling him, and brought his face close, right inside of the brunet's personal bubble.

"Er…Hisoka, I don't remember you being this _friendly _before," Tsuzuki swallowed thickly, his tongue dry, as a hand slid up his thigh, the blunt finger nails dragging through the fabric of his slacks before gliding up his chest.

The blond said nothing as he straightened and angled his spine, pressing their chests together. His thin arms came up to encircle around the brunet's neck. Those green eyes locked onto his mouth with purpose and before Tsuzuki knew it, he was being pulled forward.

Tsuzuki was panicking; shaking his head as he tried to stop what his mind was telling him was going to happen. "Wait, Hisoka, I-"

The brunet was silenced by the blond pressing his mouth firmly to his, supple and firm.

Tsuzuki's eyebrows shot into his hairline as he tried to pull back-to break the joined junction of their mouths. But Hisoka's hands trailed up into his hair and held him still, tugging at the strands so that he wouldn't break the kiss.

He gave a sharp gasp at the pain caused to his tender scalp and it was the only opening the blond needed to shove his tongue into the brunet's unsuspecting mouth. Tsuzuki shivered as that warm tongue ran along his front teeth and slid into the crevices of his cheeks and gums. It took all of his willpower to not respond to those teasing touches, to not give in to those lips that rubbed against his own.

But this wasn't right. This wasn't Hisoka who was touching him right now and as much as he liked it, he needed to stop this.

When the hands in his hair loosened, he used the opportunity to turn his head away, disconnecting their mouths altogether. Hisoka seemed momentarily confused at the sudden halt to the kissing as he blinked dazedly at Tsuzuki with a flushed face and dark green eyes. His brief puzzlement allowed Tsuzuki to sit up -and push him partially away- so that there was now a space separating their upper bodies.

When the blond looked like was ready to swoop right back in and resume kissing, Tsuzuki placed his hands firmly on Hisoka's upper arms to stop him. "You aren't Hisoka," he alleged, panting slightly as the blond tried to forcibly jerk his arms out of his hold.

Each time Hisoka moved, he ground their hips together, eliciting an agonizing hiss from Tsuzuki as he fought to keep his body under control. To halt the heat that pooled in his stomach as he fought with the lithe body that straddled him.

He was mindful of the way Hisoka's shorts rode up as they struggled, bunching up to reveal creamy, pale thighs that gripped tightly on ether side of his waist. So close that all he had to do was let go of Hisoka's shoulders and allow himself to _feel._

Tsuzuki growled in frustration as he tried to buck the blond off, to try and stop the younger from rubbing against him, but it only served to bring them closer. The friction felt so good, and Tsuzuki found it easy to want to push back into it but he quickly sobered when he caught sight of the wanton, desirable expression on Hisoka's face.

Those eyes stared at him beseechingly as the blond tried to reach out and touch with his suppressed arms, looking helpless with want as those swollen lips begged, "Please, Tsuzuki…"

Tsuzuki laughed, shook his head sadly- because there was no way Hisoka would ever beg at him like that. Or even want him. No, this wasn't Hisoka at all.

He slid his hands down the blond's arms and stopped at the wrists, quickly and expertly moving them so that he held both in one hand as he used his other to fish out the fuda in his dress shirt pocket.

Hisoka squirmed, tried to pry his wrists out of the long fingered hand that held him in place but Tsuzuki's grip on him only seemed to tighten, making the blond wince. But he didn't say anything about the harsh treatment or the rejection the older man was giving to his advances. Instead, he asked with a small sulky frown and voice to match, "Tsuzuki, don't you love me?"

Tsuzuki looked up, saw the expression on his favorite blond's face and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop his mouth from curving and to prevent himself from tugging on the boy's wrists and pulling him down- overcome by the sudden urge to make that expression into something much more desirable. Something more heated and sexy.

It was dangerous for him to want someone so much and it was all the more reason to end this. Now.

"No," Tsuzuki said, surprised that he was able to sound like he meant it, "No, I don't love you."

The blond's face fell and his eyes and mouth widened, but before he could say anything in response Tsuzuki had slapped the fuda to his forehead.

The reaction to the paper spell was instant. Light shined out from Hisoka's brow and surrounded his entire body. And that's when he saw her, the full force of the spell had thrown her out of his partner's body and the translucent woman with long dark hair had staggered several feet away, in an attempt to recover.

She spared a glare at him, her eyes dark and angry, before she was forced to retreat through the wall at her back. The spell must have significantly wounded her, and she probably couldn't take the chance of losing more spiritual energy if she was hit by the light again.

Light continued to shine around Hisoka, cleansing him from any remaining ties of the possession. It was so bright that Tsuzuki was forced to close his eyes until he could no longer see the red and orange flickering behind his eye-lids.

He could feel the house and the objects around them rattling and the way Hisoka's leg muscles clenched tight and shook around his thighs, in an attempt to brace himself as the commotion died down.

When it was over, Hisoka sagged against him -sweating and panting heavily. Tsuzuki immediately raised his hands up to the blond's shoulders in an attempt to help support him but the minute he touched Hisoka, the blond flinched with a jerk and was quickly pulling away. Hisoka's face was flushed and his eyes were downcast as he quickly withdrew from the brunet's lap- scooting back with his legs until there was a good two feet of distance between them.

"Hisoka?" Tsuzuki asked -careful and concerned- and a little fearful of what Hisoka could have seen while being possessed by the ghost. "Are you alright?"

Hisoka's eyes shot up, wide and terrified before he directed them back down again, choosing to focus on the floor in front of him. His face was still red and his body tingled with unexplained arousal. He didn't need to answer, it was already apparent to Tsuzuki that he was definitely not alright.

He felt stupid for having asked a question with such an obvious answer.

"Do you remember anything?" He asked instead, mindful that his partner had just been through a traumatic experience. If there was an off chance that Hisoka did remember something and he didn't want to give an answer, then Tsuzuki wouldn't press.

Hisoka surprised him by shaking his head though his eyes were still aimed down. He brought his knees to his chin and wrapped his arms around them, cutting off any further conversation.

"Okay."

Tsuzuki flickered him a look before he stood up, and resignedly put his hands in his pockets. He tried to ignore the ache in his stomach and how the excitement in his lower body wouldn't go way. He didn't know what Hisoka made of the position they had been in, but he could tell the blond was uncomfortable. Maybe he should leave the room, let his partner breathe. "I'll go through the house and put up some more protection barriers."

"Will that even help at all?" Hisoka's quiet voice criticized him, addressing the evening's events for this first time. "She was able to get in here, Tsuzuki. The fuda spells we put up on the first day did nothing to stop her from getting to me in my sleep. She controls everything in this house. What if she goes after you too?"

"I'll be fine. I saw her when she came out of you. She can't get to me now that I've seen her for what she is."

The empath shook his head, shivering a little in the now cold room. "I don't think either one of us have seen her for what she is. Not yet."

* * *

><p>Since the possession had happened, Hisoka had refused to talk about it or acknowledge how close his body had been pressed into Tsuzuki's. He didn't remember what had happened or what he did while he was out of it. His control of his body had shut down the moment the ghost had taken over. Leaving him vulnerable to whatever sick plans she had for him.<p>

As a result of that night, the awkward tension between him and Tsuzuki had gotten worse. They didn't know how to talk to each other anymore and if they weren't speaking about the case then they weren't speaking at all. It was like all those moments they had shared before and on the case were irrelevant. Hisoka didn't know how he felt about that.

Ever the avoider of uncomfortable atmospheres, Hisoka had taken refuge in the kitchen after Tsuzuki had fallen asleep, and buried himself in the exorcism books he had brought with him. For the last few days, he hadn't been able to even close his eyes -fearful that if he let his guard down, the ghost would take over his body again.

Though his body was exhausted, he never shifted his focus. He was tired of this house; tired of the strain being here had put on his and Tsuzuki's partnership. He was just so tired of everything, but his desire to want to leave as soon as possible overruled his weariness. He didn't want anything else to happen to him.

"Hisoka?" Tsuzuki poked his head in the doorway, his hair slightly mussed and his white night shirt wrinkled from sleep. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Working," Hisoka gritted out, not looking up from his book. "The sooner we get rid of that ghost bitch, the sooner we can get out of this crazy house." But his answer didn't seem to satisfy Tsuzuki's curiosity.

"You didn't go to sleep at all last night did you?" the brunet continued to press, his voice eerily calm. But the look on his face told Hisoka that he seemed to know anyway, "or the night before that."

Irritated, Hisoka shut his book and slammed it down on the tile counter, half-turning in his seat to glare at his partner. "What do you care? It's none of your business."

Hisoka expected Tsuzuki to react, but he didn't expect his partner to plow straight for him and physically grab him. He tried to swat at him, when the older man's hand clamped onto his arm, but Tsuzuki just kept pulling him until he was out of the chair and through the kitchen door.

"Let go. What do you think you're doing?" Hisoka demanded as he was whisked away, his voice coming out unsteady from trying to keep up with Tsuzuki's quick pace.

"Getting you into bed." Those words stirred a little flustered fight in Hisoka, but Tsuzuki only tightened his grip on the blond's arm as he propelled him down the hall, into the room, and forcibly pushed him down on his sleeping bag.

Tsuzuki was still standing over him, glancing down at him expectantly with his arms crossed. "Don't just sit there. Lie down and get some rest."

"I don't like you like this."

"Right back at you," the brunet said in return. "Now hurry up and go to sleep."

As an act of defiance, Hisoka sat up straighter and gestured at himself with both hands. "_I'm_ _fine_."

"Judging by those black circles under your eyes, you're not," Tsuzuki remarked, holding up a hand up to prevent Hisoka from interrupting him. "I'm your partner, Hisoka. If something's bothering you, you should trust me enough to tell me about it. Not suffer through it on your own."

"How was I supposed to do that? And if you'd listen to me for once, you'd hear me when I say, 'I'm fine.'"

"But you're not _fine_."

"What gives you the right to say that?"

"I have the right to say that because I care about you."

Then Hisoka was standing too, nowhere near as tall as Tsuzuki, but the sudden change of position gave him a sense of bravado. "I'm not some rookie kid partner anymore. So you can stop the big brother routine."

"It's more than that."

"What?"

"It's more than that," Tsuzuki repeated, slowly this time -almost like he was trying to cement the thought, the memory, in his head. "You're more than just my partner, Hisoka"

_More._ And that single word had his heart trembling. Made him happier than he'd ever been, but he couldn't deal with this right now. "It isn't and I don't want it to be."

He tried to brush past Tsuzuki, but the brunet's arm reached out to stop him, grabbing onto his bicep. "Hisoka, please, I'm worried about you. I lov-"

"Stop it, Tsuzuki." He jerked his arm away, the exhaustion settling in and making him suddenly frustrated and angry that Tsuzuki just wouldn't let this go. His vision wavered, so he seemed to be looking at the other man through a rippling wave of heat. "I don't need your help or worry. All you're doing is getting in the way. Why can't you just go away and leave me alone?!"

The minute he finished speaking and saw the shocked expression on Tsuzuki's face he regretted it. He was just so tired and irritated that he had snapped without thinking. But the damage had been done and he couldn't undo it.

"Tsuzuki, I-" he started carefully, but now it was Tsuzuki's turn to interrupt him.

"No, Hisoka. You're right. You're a capable young adult and you don't need me at all." The tone his partner spoke in was neutral and to anyone else it would seem like Tsuzuki hadn't been fazed at all. But the underlying hurt and disappointment that his partner was feeling was strong enough to project onto Hisoka, causing his heart to sting with guilt.

_How I can fix this_, he wondered as he saw Tsuzuki pick up his trench coat from the floor and put it on. Everything had gone so wrong.

"Wait, Tsuzuki!" he called out in a panic as Tsuzuki walked out of the room and down the hallway. Hisoka had to jog to catch up to him -adrenaline and fear driving him on- and before he knew it, they were already at the front door.

"Where are you going?" he asked, stopping just a few feet away as Tsuzuki turned to look at him-his hand resting on the door knob.

For a second, Hisoka thought that Tsuzuki wasn't really looking at him. His stare seemed vacant and unfocused and when he spoke, his voice came out hoarser than Hisoka had ever remembered, "I'm going to get some air."

He said nothing else as he opened the door quickly and let himself out. The late evening air blew into the entry way of the house, bringing with it some scattered leaves and light dust. It was quickly cut off as the door swung shut behind him.

A thousand thoughts ran through Hisoka's head like a ticking time-bomb. All telling him to move. To do something.

He wanted to run after Tsuzuki, tell him he was sorry and ask -no, beg- him to come back. But the more he thought about it, the more disgusted and ashamed he became with himself.

They had been growing father apart and Hisoka wondered if this case would be the one to break them.

Just how much more could they take before nothing else tied them together?

**A suivre.**

**AN:**  
><em>Dans l'Obscurité <em>is French In Darkness/Into the Dark.  
><em>Chapitre Deux<em>_: __Crépuscule _is French for Chapter Two: Twilight._  
><em>_ A suivre _is French for To be continued/To Follow.

Special thanks to Retired Kitkat for help with these translations. :)


	3. Chapitre Trois: Aube

***Warning: Manga/Anime Spoilers***

Disclaimer:

I don't own Yami no Matsuei

**Beta:** Eria  
><span><strong><br>****Request fic for: **general zargon

**Setting:** Takes place after Kyoto in the anime/manga and ignores GenSoKai Arc. I guess this could be seen as alternate universe or alternate story line.**  
><strong>

**Dans l'Obscurité**  
>By EggDropSoup<p>

_Chapitre __Trois: __Aube_

Tatsumi Seichiro was in a good mood. The last few days at the office had been nice and quiet, allowing him to relax, balance the department's budget, and not have to worry about any buildings exploding (for once). It was amazing what one could do without the distraction of annoying and money-wasting employees. Maybe he would try and put everyone out on assignment at the same time more often.

Because he had been so busy attending to those matters, he had forgotten to pick up the fax sent by the Korean Shinigami Branch earlier that morning. He needed the information they had sent him for the next staff meeting that would be held when all the Shokan employees returned back from their assignments.

He stepped inside the communal office quickly, his eyes searching for the fax machine and was quite surprised when he spotted Hisoka in the far back. Hisoka was sitting in his designated chair with his elbows propped on the desk and his head in his hands.

Tatsumi frowned. Hisoka and Tsuzuki weren't due back for a while yet and judging from the boy's posture, he was obviously upset. With renewed purpose, he stepped forward, walking past the other rows of desks until he stopped right in front of the youngest Shokan Division member.

When the blond didn't acknowledge his presence right away, Tatsumi's frown deepened and he cleared his throat loudly before speaking, "Kurosaki-kun."

Startled, Hisoka looked up – those bright eyes looked so wrong in Tatsumi's opinion- so sad and desperately unhappy. Hisoka blinked a few times before he slid his hands away from his face and straightened in his seat. "Tatsumi-san, good evening," he greeted, his voice flat.

"Good evening," Tatsumi acknowledged back, more out of habit then intended politeness. "You're back already? And why isn't Tsuzuki-san with you?"

Hisoka's shoulders visibly stiffened at his partner's name and he remained frozen for a moment. His silence worried Tatsumi, especially when the blond seemed to be struggling for something to say.

"Kurosaki-kun," he pressed, growing more concerned the longer the blond didn't answer him. "Where is Tsuzuki-san right now?"

Hisoka swallowed, his eyes going to stare at the desktop in front of him. "Tsuzuki's still in Karatsu," he admitted. His voice was quiet and ashamed.

Tatsumi's gaze on him sharpened. "Why? Did something happen?"

The empath nodded silently and shifted awkwardly in his seat. "Tsuzuki…I said some things to him."

Tatsumi studied him, his eyebrows lifting as he took this all in. "Kurosaki-kun, Tsuzuki-san is a rather resilient individual. I'm sure that whatever has happened can still be all worked out-"

"I was a total ass to him. Everything he did for me, I shoved it right back in his face," Hisoka blurted out, hating himself. "I told him he was in the way and that I didn't need him. He was so hurt. I…I don't know what to say to him now." He wasn't aware of the way his mouth quivered or how his hands shook when he pushed them back up to cover his face.

This wasn't the first time that Tatsumi had seen him at a loss of what to do. The last time had been in Kyoto when Tsuzuki had a nervous breakdown. Why was it that whenever the going got tough, he always seemed to ran away?

No, Hisoka knew why he always ran. It was because he was too afraid of what would become of it if he stuck it out. He was afraid of letting himself fall in love with Tsuzuki. Afraid of what it would mean if he fully let Tsuzuki in. So he kept walls up and pretended to be displeased at his partner over the slightest things. Anything so as to not show how much the other man truly meant to him.

He was a coward.

"If Tsuzuki-san and I fought as much as you two did, we'd still be partners," Tatsumi said thoughtfully, his words coming out slow and calm, interrupting the younger male's self-deprecating thoughts.

Hisoka lowered his hands to his sides; saw the wistful look on Tatsumi's face. "Tatsumi-san?"

"I think that you should go back, Kurosaki-kun. You should go back and have a talk with Tsuzuki-san and tell him everything you've told me just now. He'll understand," Tatsumi said, giving him a small and thoughtful smile and added, "After all, you really don't want to leave Tsuzuki-san, do you?"

"No," the blond agreed, and for the first time since he had come back to Meifu he felt truly confident enough to admit that. "No, I don't want to leave him."

He needed Tsuzuki, that part of him he couldn't deny.

"So what are you waiting for?" Tatsumi prompted, smirking lightly, his voice full of challenge.

And Hisoka found himself unconsciously answering to it as he stood up from his desk on steady legs and prepared himself to teleport back.

He would go back and tell Tsuzuki he was sorry and confess to the feelings that he had inside him. He still had time.

Not wanting to wait another moment, he vanished instantly, his body being transported back to the city and leaving Tatsumi alone in the now empty office. The only evidence that he had even been there was that his chair was still slightly pushed back.

Tatsumi shook his head and remembering his initial reason for being in the office, made his way toward the fax machine. He picked up the printed memo and left the office quietly with a small gentle smile present on his face.

* * *

><p>Sighing deeply, Tsuzuki unlocked the door of the old abandoned house and stepped inside. The sun was setting outside, but there was still enough light streaming through the windows to make out the hallways and rooms. He and Hisoka would have to get settled and come up with a plan for tonight before it got too dark.<p>

He wasn't sure how things would be between them now with so much having happened and gone wrong in the last few hours. It was like all the trust and understanding they had built had fallen to the wayside. He had never felt so disconnected from Hisoka before as he did now. And that realization hurt far more than when his partner had so harshly rejected his feelings.

"I'm back," he called out, not looking up as he shut the door behind him and locked it. He could hear his loud, clear voice echo throughout the house a few times and he waited for Hisoka's automatic reply as he shuffled out of his trench coat and shoes.

When he didn't hear anything, he tried calling out to his partner again, "Hisoka?" Curiously, he placed his trench coat on the hanger by the door and stepped away from the walkway cautiously.

When he entered the sitting room, he didn't notice anything amiss. Everything was as it had been before. The table was covered in dust and the adjacent chairs and cabinets that helped decorate the room were equally as untouched. There was no sign that Hisoka or anyone else had been in there. He frowned, his lips thinning out, as he started forward again -concerned that Hisoka hadn't responded at all- and intending to proceed into the kitchen next.

Just as he turned his head, he saw a flash of shadow out of the corner of his eye. It immediately caught his attention and he reeled around quickly to run toward the direction it had come from. He hurried out into the large, dimly-lit hall and noticed a small light coming out from the open door of the study.

He walked briskly into the study, and had just barely crossed the threshold as he looked around the room to see a hint or indication as to where Hisoka could have gone. On the coffee table, a small flickering candle stood, barely lighting up the room. Even though the room was a bit dark, Tsuzuki could squint his eyes enough to make out Hisoka's duffle bag in the corner and the book the blond had read earlier that day was lying on the floor, but his partner was no where to be found.

Panic spiked through him as he whirled around in alarm to stalk out the doorway and search the rest of the house. He could hear the worried concern in his own voice as he said, "Hisoka? Hisoka, are you here?"

When he still didn't hear a reply his cries became more desperate, more distressed, "Hisoka, where are you?" The more seconds that passed without any response, the more his anxiety grew until his throat felt tight with trepidation, "Hisoka!" he called gruffly, sounding just as broken as he felt. "Please answer me. I'm sorry, I-"

Pain at the back of his head stopped him before he could walk out the doorway, harsh and piercing. He raised a hand instinctively to where it hurt, cupping the back of his skull as he doubled over. His vision began to swim and he staggered, his body swaying as he tried to stay conscious but the pain hurt so much that he felt like he was having vertigo.

His mind was in a fog, everything seemed to be moving so fast and the walls in front of him were spinning. His breathing became quicker, more labored as it filled the silence of the room around him. His eyes were twitching, and then rolling, until the only parts of them visible were the white sclera that showed through his still open lids.

And then he was falling, his knees buckling and his eyelids finally closed as his body collapsed on the wooden floor.

If he hadn't been so focused on finding his partner, he may have noticed that the fuda he had placed on the four corners of the study had disappeared. Or he may have seen the white face of the ghost woman with long dark hair that had been shadowing him in the dark shadows of the house during his frantic search the entire time.

When he opened his eyes, Tsuzuki found himself in the living room with his limbs stretched out and restrained by several extension cords. Not only were they holding him in place, but they were also below him, forming a dark brown web-like structure underneath him. Upon seeing the extent of his restraints, he quickly came to his senses and began thrashing instinctively, trying to pull at the bindings on his arms and legs in an attempt to escape.

He couldn't remember how he had gotten into such a predicament, but the throbbing at the back of his head told him of a possibility.

"It's no use to struggle; the cords have a binding spell on them," a cool, female voice from behind him spoke quietly, startling him from his act of resistance.

He stopped and turned his face upside down to see the ghost woman standing close behind him. She looked just like she had the last time he had seen her when she had been expelled from Hisoka's body. Her long hair shielded half of her face and her dress was as white as her complexion, blending in with the ashen skin so well that you had to blink a few times to tell which was which. She looked calm and collected as she stood by the doorway, watching him appraisingly.

As soon as Tsuzuki recognized her, his face instantly changed from surprise to a look of anger as he seethed, "You!"

"Me," she agreed, stepping closer and appearing pleased at his obvious show of antagonism. She stopped a few steps away from him and spoke, "Now that your partner is gone, you're all mine."

"What? But Hisoka-"

"He left," the ghost interrupted, "and from what happened in your fight, he probably won't be coming back."

Tsuzuki's eyes narrowed. Hisoka's luggage was still in the study, he had seen it. But other than that there had been no indication that his partner was even there, even during his brief search of the house earlier. He didn't want to believe that Hisoka had left him, but he didn't think that the ghost woman was lying.

With a heavy heart Tsuzuki clenched his jaw and demanded, "What do you want from me?"

"I've been feeding off the souls of humans for months in order to maintain the anchor that ties me to this plane. But they aren't enough," she explained and glanced at his body with hungry eyes. "I need a soul that's more powerful and one that can keep producing energy for me for a very long time."

Tsuzuki had known about her using the souls of her victims as an energy source, but he still didn't see how he fit into the equation. Or why the ghost wasn't doing anything to hurt him. "What does that have to do with me?"

"You're a shinigami. You're immortal, and your energy can be replenished continuously."

The gears in his mind turned until something clicked. "So that's why there was an increase in your victims. You wanted to drag us out." His words were more a statement than a question, his face expressing the true extent of the distress he felt at having learned that.

She shrugged a shoulder and pursed her lips, not the least bit ashamed of what he accused her of. "It worked, didn't it?"

His face twisted into a look of pure revulsion as he attempted to lash out at her, but his arms were still restrained by the cords. He couldn't get to her no matter how hard he tried. "You're disgusting!" he spat, his voice full of venom. All those people had died just so she could find a conveniently charged soul-battery.

She smiled, clever and cunning, as she observed him and a placed a coy hand on her hip. "I prefer the term, _opportunistic_."

His glare intensified as he watched her. She thought this was funny, like he was a chess piece in a game that she could drag out for however long she wanted. But Tsuzuki wasn't in the mood to play around with her. He wanted answers. "If you needed a shinigami then why'd you choose me and not my partner? You were able to manipulate him quite easily through his empathy."

Of course, Tsuzuki had never wanted Hisoka to be the target of any of the ghost's plans but after all that had happened on this case, he still didn't understand why she wanted _him_. All her involvement during their stay in the house had somehow affected Hisoka. If Hisoka was really gone like she said, then what was the point of her involving him to begin with?

She paused, considered, "The boy had a talent, yes. But from the moment you stepped in this house I could feel how much stronger you were apart from him. _You_ were my target from the start."

"Then why did you give him all those nightmares? Why not me?" If he was her true target, then what did she have to gain by pursuing his partner?

"I gave him nightmares because the boy's well-being affects you the most. If I cripple him then I cripple you." Coolly, she eyed him. Casually, she stepped closer until she was at his side. So close she could reach out and touch him if she wanted. Caustically, she smiled. "It's your own fault you know. Your love for him is obvious."

Her comments stung both at his pride and at his heart, taking a jab at his feelings and the unexplainable absence of his partner. She knew she was making him miserable, but whether or not Hisoka had truly abandoned him still had yet to be revealed.

Below the surface, he felt insecure at the accusations placed against his partner, and he truly didn't know what he should think.

"What are you going to do to me?" He asked, becoming impatient.

If he really was all alone now, then he wanted to get his involvement with her done. No use in having to drag it out. If she was going to kill him like the others and use his soul then he'd rather have it happen quickly.

Unmistakable triumph flashed into those dark eyes of hers. Most of the frustration he was directing at her wasn't even intended for her. It was triggered by the betrayal and abandonment he seemed to be feeling. He was giving up. "I'm not going to do anything to you. You're the one who's going to help me with my little problem, after all."

Tsuzuki scoffed with a snort of pure opposition. "Why would _I _help _you_?"

"Because I can give you something no one else can," Naomi said, her voice sounded so soft and persuasive that it triggered Tsuzuki's interest more than he would have like to admit.

She bent over his restrained body and ran a chalk-white hand slowly over his face to tilt his chin up until he was looking right at her. Her eyes were searching his face hungrily, so close to harnessing the power that his soul possessed. "Tell me, Tsuzuki. How would you like to sleep and have wonderful dreams forever?"

The silver mirror on the wall in front of them glowed as the moonlight streamed in through the windows.

* * *

><p>When Hisoka reached the house, he knew instantly that something was wrong. The levels of spiritual energy that surrounded the house seemed to have increased. The sure intensity of it was striking, like someone had dumped frigid ice water over his head.<p>

He entered the house carefully and took note of how dark and quiet it was inside, which made him uneasy. When they had stayed in the house, Tsuzuki had lit up the place like a Christmas tree, placing various candles and kerosene lamps around the rooms and hallways because the house's electrical circuits hadn't worked in years. And Tsuzuki was noisy by nature, always stumbling or rustling something when he moved.

Judging by the darkness of the house and the silence, he would have normally thought that Tsuzuki had yet to return. But his partner's shoes and coat at the door said otherwise, leaving him to believe that something must have happened.

Hisoka waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the house before he made his way through the sitting room and hallway. He cautiously passed by the various rooms that connected to the hall, peeking into them carefully for any signs of his partner.

None of the rooms revealed Tsuzuki's whereabouts or any clues as to what may have happened. No furniture or décor had been misplaced that he could see, but he became greatly concerned when he saw that the fuda spells Tsuzuki had placed on the walls of the study room had fallen to the floor.

He was tempted to stretch out with his empathy, to see if he could sense his partner that way, but the spiritual energy in the house was too much. It was all he could do to keep his mind alert as he continued down the hall and into the living room.

The only room he had yet to search.

Hisoka slid through the doorway of the living room slowly, looking each way as he took one cautious step after another. The energy was stronger in here than the rest of the house. The walls seemed almost alive with it; pumping full of energy like blood does in a person's veins.

His eyes scanned the room guardedly as he inched further inside. The curtain-less windows in the living room allowed the moonlight to easily pour in, helping to further illuminate parts of the room.

When his eyes caught sight of Tsuzuki lying on the cold wood floor, in the middle of the living room he stopped breathing. "Tsuzuki!"

His body moved on its own before he realized what was happening, bringing him to Tsuzuki's side. He flopped down hard on his knees and his hands automatically started to examine his partner's face. His small fingers pressed worriedly against Tsuzuki's temple, his cheek.

"I had a feeling you'd come back, boy," a quiet whisper that he didn't really hear called out from the shadows, reminding him that he and Tsuzuki weren't the only ones still inside the house.

Cold air brushed against the back of his neck, causing the skin there to pebble with goose bumps and his shoulders to tense rigidly. "You…"

"Me?" the same voice scoffed, this time speaking louder. "That's the second time someone's called me that. How rude. My name is _Naaaaoooommmmi_."

He slowly turned his head to who he knew was the ghost, his eyes narrowing as he demanded, "What did you do to Tsuzuki?!"

"I didn't do anything to him that he didn't want. He and I made a deal. He stays here with me forever and I grant him an eternal sleep." She crossed her arms and cocked her hip. "You should be happy. Your case is now closed. Your superiors will be pleased to know that no more of their precious souls will go missing from judgment."

"I'm not going back without Tsuzuki!" he declared defiantly and to further cement his words he gripped Tsuzuki's arm and held it tightly to his chest.

"Didn't you go back without him already? What's stopping you from doing it again?" she asked flatly, shooting him an unimpressed look.

"That was different! Tsuzuki knows I would never abandon him." On that he was firm. He might have shown a side of cowardice before by leaving, but he was back now and he wasn't going to let her take away the person that meant the most to him.

She laughed, straightened, and shook her head. Her dark long hair fell over part of her face as her shoulders shook. "That's where you're wrong, young shinigami. Your Tsuzuki thought you left him here. That's why he was so willing to take my deal."

"I don't believe you. There's no way Tsuzuki would have agreed to that. You must have tricked him!" he accused angrily, but his hold on Tsuzuki's arm lessened fractionally.

"I may have used some of my tricks on him but a ghost cannot possess the unwilling," she countered. "I trapped him and then offered him a deal. When he saw that you weren't coming back for him, he agreed, all on his own. He even opened a way for me just like you did in your dreams. So really, I guess I should be thanking you. Your lover's spat made all this possible." She gave a little twirl.

The empath flushed in both embarrassment and anger. Words of hate were itching at his tongue, wanting him to say and do something about this ghost woman who stood so smugly before him. But now wasn't the time to argue futilely with her.

He snarled before turning his attention back to his partner. He released Tsuzuki's arm and placed two fingers against the older man's neck, just under the jaw bone where the carotid artery pumped between the wind pipe and neck muscle below it.

Tsuzuki's skin felt clammy and cold beneath his fingers, but Hisoka could feel the reassuring steady beat of a pulse. It was faint but stable. He let out a sigh of relief.

Good. Tsuzuki's body was still functioning for now. He still had time. He just had to wake his partner up before Naomi sucked his soul out altogether.

He placed both his hands on either side of Tsuzuki's shoulders and attempted to stir the man from his deep sleep.

"Tsuzuki, wake up! Wake up, Tsuzuki!" He shook his partner's shoulders roughly, but no matter how strong or how forcefully he pushed, Tsuzuki didn't stir. Instead, his body remained limp on the floor and his head lulled from side to side with each shove Hisoka gave him.

_Please wake up, _he willed, feeling desperate. He couldn't lose Tsuzuki now. Not like this. Not before he could tell Tsuzuki his true feelings and make the things between them right.

"You can't wake him that way," Naomi said cheerily, highly amused that Hisoka had attempted to rouse his partner in vain but she made no move to stop him.

As soon as she said that, Hisoka's eyes opened with realization as his empathy tapped into her thoughts, replaying back the whole scenario that had happened earlier with both her and Tsuzuki.

He could see his partner restrained by the extension cords, Naomi's body leaning over him and promising him an eternity of peace if he only gave her his soul. And when Tsuzuki had agreed, his body had gone limp-his soul being sucked into the silver full-length mirror that hung on the wall just a few feet in front of them.

The mirror was the anchor. The very thing they had been looking for this entire time.

And Tsuzuki's soul was inside it.

He moved quickly, lighting fast, as he jumped to his feet. His hand automatically went to the pocket of his jean jacket for the fuda Tsuzuki had given him before.

"Not so fast, pretty boy," the ghost chastised, sounding bored and unsurprised as she snapped her fingers. One of the lamp's extension cords immediately shot out and encircled Hisoka's leg, stopping him from going any further. He reached down to frantically tug at it as it constricted around his thigh, forcing him to stop even as he resisted.

Slender white hands were placed on either side of his face, and instantly she tapped into his empathy, flooding into him like an invasive parasite. "You just don't know when to give up do you?"

He froze, his body no longer under his control as he felt her presence ease into the back of his mind, flooding his thoughts and ruling over the motions of his arms and legs.

"He agreed to my deal so long as I didn't drain any more souls," she said into his head, as his body temperature continued to drop. He felt so cold and the muscles and nerves in his body would spasm involuntarily, making a last attempt to regain some circulatory warmth. The pulsing ache in his head increased, like someone was screeching in his ear and causing his brain to throb painfully. "However, I didn't make any promises to him about not_ killing_ anyone. It's such a shame, but I can't have you getting in my way."

That's what she was doing. She had taken over his body and had planned to kill him. He could already feel the strength of his limbs shutting down. They felt atrophied, comparable to a withered up tree. The last time he had felt that way was when he was dying under the pretense of an incurable illness. When he had found out the truth about the events of his death, and had been dragged off by Muraki only to be saved by Tsuzuki -he had sworn that he would never allow someone to have power over him again.

He had to fight it. He had to remove her from inside of him before she shut the rest of his body down. He had to stop her, before she took away the most important person in his existence. But, how? With his body immobile, he couldn't reach his fuda or form any exorcism spells. He was completely at her mercy.

A thought occurred to him as he frantically racked his brain. There was one thing. One thing that he could use and could rely on. His empathy. It was risky, but it was all the advantage that he had and he'd rather die trying than die from not doing anything at all.

There was more than just his own existence at stake.

"This is my body," he said, and he could feel the energy of his rage billowing in his gut, the excess of it flowing through his body like waves. As the energy pulsated and passed through the muscles and cellular tissue, they let off a scorching heat that made his bones ache. But those waves weren't even comparable to the growing pressure of energy still inside of him. The burning that wanted so badly to be released danced beneath his skin with anticipation. "Get out."

He let loose the energy blast. The force of it scorched parts of his skin and burned at his clothes but he didn't care. His clothes could be replaced and his body would heal after. What mattered was that the heat would expel her out.

And it did.

Naomi looked tired as she stood with a hand to her chest, doubled over. She was swaying as she gasped, and she seemed to have trouble standing. Her image was fading, flickering away. Hisoka knew that she had used a lot of energy to posses him and she wouldn't be able to attack him with anything until she re-energized. If she tried to attack him now, she would surely lose.

Taking advantage of this change in events, Hisoka hurried to the full length mirror, pulling out the fuda with every intention of bringing his partner back to reality. He wasn't totally exhausted yet, but he didn't want to take a chance and test his luck. There was no telling how many more chances he would get. He had had enough with ghosts for today and he wanted to end this case and bring Tsuzuki back to Meifu as soon as possible.

"Wait!" Naomi yelled out imploringly, gasping with the little strength she had left as he stopped in front of the mirror. He was only inches away from the glass surface. His arm was outstretched and his hand extended with the fuda and was ready to push it against the mirror's glass surface at any moment. "Won't you just let him go? I can assure you he's happy here with me. I've given him dreams that he's only ever _imagined_." She gave a laugh. "Look at him in the mirror if you don't believe me and see how peaceful he is. Would you really take that away from him?"

Hisoka could see Tsuzuki's face just below the surface of the mirror. The light of the dream world had tinted everything visible outside of the darkness blue. His partner looked to be dreaming away, his face illuminated by the blue hue.

With Naomi's weakened state, the spiritual energy that had kept his empathy out of sorts was gone, allowing him to catch faint glimpses of what the older man was dreaming of. He saw them together, lying side by side on the green lawn of Tsuzuki's garden. They were holding hands as the sun shined over them and the brunet looked as peaceful in the dream as the real Tsuzuki was looking now.

It made Hisoka want to give Tsuzuki that same happiness again, in reality.

"No. Call it selfish or whatever you like, but I can't live in a world without Tsuzuki." He put the hand with the fuda down and instead raised his free hand to trace his fingers over the glass that covered Tsuzuki's face.

"I will always find a way to bring him back. His place is here with me and I won't let him go. Not to anyone."

He glanced back at her one last time as he finished, "And definitely not to _you_."

He let his free hand fall and his other hand quickly pushed the fuda against the glass of the dream mirror. The paper charm reacted instantly and the glass and frame of the mirror shattered.

"No!" Naomi let out a strangled yell, as she watched the mirror crumble in horror. The only part of the mirror that hadn't been destroyed in the blast were the broken bits of frame that still hung to the wall and the glass shards that glittered over the wooden floor. Tsuzuki's image was no longer in any of the glass shards. That meant Hisoka's plan had worked and Tsuzuki's soul had gone back to his body.

Hisoka's eyes fell on the ghost, watching as she was disappearing quickly. Her form becoming more translucent as the fading quickened. She had been on earth too long and now that her anchor was destroyed she no longer had anything to keep her in the house.

She opened her mouth to speak, her eyes catching his for a fleeting moment but before she could say any last words, she vanished. The house rattled and shook, causing the furniture to move. The lamps and vases that had been sitting on the tables broke and the chairs fell onto their backs and sides. Hisoka shielded himself with his arms and covered his head in case any objects would be flung his way.

When the air had finally settled, Hisoka stood dazed, his adrenaline still spiking dully in his blood. He didn't notice how his burnt skin sizzled when it healed and repaired itself, or how his worn clothing was in tatters.

The whole house was a mess, almost like it had been overturned and shaken up. Looking at how the furniture was all scattered and banged up, it was a wonder he wasn't hit by any of it.

Remembering Tsuzuki, Hisoka instantly turned to find his partner. Thankfully, Tsuzuki didn't seem to have encountered any damage through the strange phenomenon. His body was exactly where Hisoka had last seen it, laying flat on the floor in the middle of the living room.

Once he reached Tsuzuki's side, he knelt beside the man's prone form and placed a hand against his forehead, his cheek. The skin beneath Hisoka's hand felt warm. A good sign that Tsuzuki's soul had found its way back.

He retracted his hand from his partner's face and placed it on the man's shoulder, giving it a little shove. "Tsuzuki?" He paused before he shook the man again, this time more insistent. "Tsuzuki, wake up."

Purple eyes fluttered open and a hoarse voice murmured, "Hisoka?" He squinted, glanced at the blond up and down, and took in his state of dress. "What happened to you?"

"It's a long story," Hisoka vaguely told him, not wanting to discuss his run in with the ghost woman. They could talk about that later when they filled out their reports.

"Are you alright? Do you remember anything?" He asked, changing the subject as Tsuzuki sat up, and looked around the room trying to figure out how he had gotten there.

Tsuzuki shook his head and blinked at him tiredly, still working on becoming fully coherent. "The last thing I remember…I was dreaming."

Hisoka felt his lips twitch when he heard that. Leave it to Tsuzuki to forget about the important stuff and just remember being asleep. Judging from the anxiousness his partner was projecting and the flittering gazes he seemed to be aiming at anywhere but him, it gave Hisoka a pretty good idea about the last thing his partner had been dreaming about.

He sank further down onto the floor so that he was resting on his knees beside Tsuzuki. He looked straight ahead, focused on brunet's mouth. It was right there. So close and just inches away from meeting his own.

"How about I give you something ten times better than any dream?" Hisoka whispered, as he placed a hand on the older man's cheek, and guided his face down. His voice was so quiet that if Tsuzuki hadn't been paying attention he would have missed it.

The older man's eyes widened in response, his mind scrambling to make sense of why Hisoka was so close and what exactly he meant by that.

"Idiot," the blond said, the skin contact between his hand and Tsuzuki's cheek allowing him to read his partner's mind. His lips were so close that Tsuzuki could feel Hisoka's breath on his face when he spoke. "I mean _this_."

The lips that pressed against his were soft and undemanding. Just like the small hand that held the side of his face. Tsuzuki found that he was pleased with both, the way that Hisoka was simply holding him, a steady form of support to the small display of feelings that had just taken place between them.

The kiss lasted only seconds, but the place that their lips met burned like a brand. Hisoka felt more than saw the stunned arousal in Tsuzuki's eyes when they stared back at him. He could feel the same need and desire clawing at his insides, a whole new level he had never wanted with anyone before.

When Hisoka pulled away, he shifted his eyes to the side, his face flushing instinctively from his show of bravado. He wasn't sure what to do next. Tsuzuki wasn't saying anything either, but Hisoka could see out of the corner of his eyes that his partner was still watching him.

"So?" he prompted after neither of them had spoken nor moved for some time, wanting to be rid of the awkward silence between and trying to take the focus off his obvious embarrassment.

At first, he wasn't sure how he would have felt about kissing Tsuzuki. He had gone into it without any plans beforehand and had hoped that by doing so his feelings would somehow reach Tsuzuki and that he, in turn, would receive some semblance of how his partner truly felt towards him.

He wasn't proficient in kissing. His only prior experience being the unwanted ones from his killer and the confusing ones he had shared in his brief moments with Tsubaki. But unlike those past experiences, this one didn't leave him feeling empty.

The kiss with Tsuzuki had been different, warming him in ways that the others hadn't.

He had liked kissing Tsuzuki and while the brunet's own emotions showed a positive response, Hisoka still wanted –no, needed- some verbal acquiescence that the older man had liked it too.

Tsuzuki seemed to think carefully before finally replying with an indifferent, "Mm…It was good."

"Just _good_?" the blond raised an eyebrow, his face looking anything but happy at his partner's response. Did he not just experience the same kiss that Hisoka did? The blond was sure he had and he knew he hadn't read Tsuzuki's feelings wrong. There was no way he could read them wrong.

"It was good," Tsuzuki said again, nodding and sending him a slanted smile, "but I think that we can do better." He amended. "Have _better_."

Hisoka felt a tremble of both excitement and apprehension run through him as Tsuzuki's answer sunk in. There was more than just the intention of additional kisses that his partner seemed to be promising him.

"So why don't we?" He asked with a bit of challenge in his voice. He wondered where this show of self-confidence was coming from. He certainly didn't feel confident, but he was aware that his partner was watching him appraisingly and -if that smile was any indication- with keen interest. He decided that Tsuzuki didn't have to know how nervous he was or how quick the pulse at his throat raced.

Tsuzuki was looking at him with amused curiosity. His smile widening so it showed a white flash of teeth and it made the empath's throat go dry with apprehension.

If the brunet was aware of Hisoka's inner conflict at the brave invitation, he didn't say. Instead, he simply framed the blond's face with both his hands and moved in and covered Hisoka's mouth with his.

The next kiss was deeper, longer, and _wetter_.

Hisoka found it easy to return the kiss, his mouth pressing back firmly against Tsuzuki's own. His partner's hand cupped the back of his neck, and changed angles, coaxing the blond's mouth open by massaging their lips together.

It started slow, sensual, but soon Hisoka found it easy to mimic the open mouthed kisses. He wasn't nearly as skillful as his partner, having bumped the older man's teeth once or twice and a few times he had missed Tsuzuki's mouth altogether. Tsuzuki didn't mind his numerous fumbles at intimacy, but instead, helped him adapt and fall into the rhythm of it. Press. Suck. _Pull_.

Their pace quickened and the kisses became more insistent, more wild and threatening. Hisoka had to grip the front Tsuzuki's suit to keep his balance. He just couldn't concentrate on anything anymore. There was too much heat, too much of both his and Tsuzuki's feelings that caused his mind to become dizzy.

When they broke apart this time they were both left gasping with glossy, open mouths. Tsuzuki's hand dropped from his neck and slid down his spine, settling at the waist. Hisoka was still holding onto his partner's suit, the fingers clenching the fabric like a life-line.

"That was _better_," Hisoka admitted when his breathing finally evened out enough for him to speak. His face was flushed and his pupils were dilated, the dark circles having eclipsed the green until they were only a small ring.

Tsuzuki seemed equally affected, his eyes half-lidded and his sweaty bangs sticking to the side of his face. Hisoka decided he liked it when Tsuzuki looked like that. All hot and messy and not talking.

He could see the forgiveness in his partner's eyes; feel the love that Tsuzuki's heart directed at him. And he let it warm him, until he was giddy with hope.

They could start again.

The blond gave his partner a calculating smile before he used his hold on Tsuzuki's suit to tug him down to eye-level, leaving them nose to nose and mouth to mouth.

"We're still far from being _done _yet."

**La fin.**

**AN :**_  
>Dans l'Obscurité <em>is French for In Darkness/Into the Dark.  
><em>Chapitre <em>_Trois:__ Aube _is French for Chapter Three: Dawn._  
><em>_ La fin_ is French for The end.

Special thanks to **Retired Kitkat** for help with these translations. :)

You are free to interpret what happens next however you'd like. :) Please don't kill me, haha. Correct Answer: There is no definite, correct answer. I've spent nearly 9 months writing this; therefore I think I can say that I gave _birth_ to this monstrosity! (A pregnancy free of weight gain and stretch marks!) I hope you liked this story, **general zargon**. :) Thank you again for submitting your request! Also, a lovely artist at **Tazmaa's Studio** completed an awesome art commission for this chapter. The **Illustration** is accessible in the links section on my profile. Please go look at it and visit her site if you can. I hope you all enjoy the illustration as much as I do! It's gorgeous!

**Update 3/30/13: This story has been edited for some overlooked grammar mistakes.**


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